


Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

by InterstellarToaster



Category: PAYDAY (Video Games)
Genre: Bodhi is an asshole, Bonnie just wants a drink, Cloaker, Gen, Guns, Heists, Humor, Implied Relationships, Money, Someone help Dallas, Upstanding Citizen Vlad, Wolf swears a lot, swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-05-24 04:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6141685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterstellarToaster/pseuds/InterstellarToaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of oneshots, all revolving around the Payday Gang and their various heists, both good and bad. Will Wolf ever stop bugging Dallas? Will Bodhi stop being an asshole? Does anyone know what Jiro is saying? And can someone please tell Bain to shut up about the thermal drill?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Counterfeit Dosh

**Author's Note:**

> Let's get this show on the road. Probably OOC, but let's just brush that off.

“Bodhi's pool repair, huh? Alright," Wolf smiled, tightening the strap on his armor and adjusting his medic bag. He wasn't sure how they planned to sneak into this house dressed like tanks, but if Bain said they could then he'd trust Bain.  


"We're here. Let's go," Dallas nodded, turning the car off and stepping outside. Bonnie audibly groaned, shuffling out of the car. She grabbed Wolf's arm and pulled him out with her, even as he grumbled in protest. Clover grumbled something about working with newbies, but otherwise was silent as she fixed her shite and stood up to leave.  


"Try not ta spook 'em," Bonnie said as the crew began to walk towards the house, and boy was the house huge. Bigger than any Wolf had seen at least. All for one guy?  


"I'll do the talking," Dallas asserted, taking the lead and knocking on the front door. He waited several seconds, as the crew shuffled around nervously. Wolf carefully nudged Dallas, leaning up to whisper something into his ear.  


"Hey, don't act dumb," Wolf said, before pulling back. Dallas turned to Wolf with the face of of a man who did not get paid enough to deal with what he did.  


"Wolf, I swear to god if I hear that song ever again," Dallas growled, intent on chiding Wolf for acting, well, childish. That is, until he heard the door open and a rather impatient and rude man began to shout.  


"Fucking finally. I'll show you where the leak is. The sooner you fix it the sooner I can get you out of here," The man, whom Wolf remembered was named Mike, grumbled and spat. Wolf didn't much like him, and the pink of his shirt looked dumb.  


"Of course, sir, we'll be out of your way soon," Dallas said, following Michele the Mistake into the spacious house. Inside, there seemed to be some kind of party going on, with many people dotting around the rooms. Clover nicked a glass of wine as they walked to the basement, and Wolf snatched some bread to nibble on as they worked. Bonnie laughed heartily yet silently as she watched Wolf, and Dallas felt a headache coming on.  


"You guys are a little overdressed for the occasion," Michele observed, and Wolf looked down at his Titan armor with a raised eyebrow. What on Earth did the guy think they were going to do with this armor, fight off a bear? He wasn't the brightest bulb it seemed.  


"Here it is. Dripping all over my goddamn walls. Hurry up, will you? I've got some babes that want to use the pool," Michele the All-Knowing seethed, and Dallas nodded.  


"One thing," Dallas began, pulling a pistol out from his bag, "don't move."  


Michele raised an eyebrow in confusion, but didn't get far before Wolf, now with a mask on his face, turned him around and knocked him out.  


"Great work there," Bonnie scoffed, lightly prodding the pink man with her boot.  


"Are you in position?" Dallas called into his earpiece, and Clover replied with a quick confirmation. The team began the hack, slowly opening the big safe room door. Wolf anxiously tapped his gun on the wall, while Bonnie rifled through the liquor cabinet.  


All seemed to be going well, until Clover popped her head out of cover. Suddenly, their radios lit up like Sputnik, buzzing with police activity. Bain let out a frazzled rendition of a dying whale, before informing them that police were Enroute to their location.  


"Great work there, butterfingers," Bonnie grumbled as the safe room door opened. They were met with another locked grate, which Dallas was quick to dispatch. Wolf soon wished he hadn't.  
Lining the walls of the room; C4. All rigged to blow in less than ten seconds. The team scrambled, trying each to grab a C4 and diffuse it. Bain began to shout into their earpieces, voice crackling with worry.  


"Get out of there!" Bain commanded, and Wolf could almost imagine his worried face. It was too late of course, and the heisters were already disarming the C4. Wolf nearly fumbled at the last second with his C4, causing Bain to cry out in shock as the feed went silent. Entirely coincidental, but it still freaked Bain out.  


"Are you guys alive?!" Bain called, reestablishing the connection. The crew all replied with various confirmations, and Dallas walked over to nudge Wolf.  


"Hey, don't do anything dumb like that again," Dallas commanded weakly, and Wolf laughed, though it was more of a giggle. One more second with that C4 and they'd all been blown to Russia. Not exactly anyone's idea of a fun time.  


"Up the stairs, we've got company!" Clover shouted, reloading her assault rifle and charging out of the door. Wolf and Dallas both nodded to each other, before following after her. Bain told them they'd need to hook up the garden house to the safe first, and the crew set out to find one.  


The first half of the heist went swimmingly. They got the safe opened, the money printer was doing its job, and everything seemed fine. Then, Captain Winters appeared.  


"The Captain is here!" Winters blared with arrogance, announcing his arrival. The heisters groaned, and Clover left the building to go take him down. Moments later, Bain called out over the radio.  


"Clover's down!" Bain shouted, and Wolf dropped the bag of money he was moving on the spot, opting to rush up the stairs to go help his teammate. Even though she was kind of a bitch.  


"On my way!" Wolf barked, slinging the shotgun off his back and sprinting up the stairs. He blasted a taser away, scrambling across the yard. Or, he would have, if Dallas hadn't tackled him and dragged him behind a fence.  


"What the hell, Dallas!" Wolf whined, ducking to dodge the bullets whizzing past them.  


"There's a turret right in he middle of the yard, genius," Dallas huffed, pointing towards the SWAT car stationed only a few feet away from them. The bullets tore through the ground, hungry for their blood. Wolf chuckled nervously.  


"Whoops-"  


"Dozer!" Bonnie suddenly cried through the comms, followed by frantic gunfire. Dallas turned to Wolf and nodded, before jumping up and hoping over the fence to draw the turrets attention from Wolf. This gave Wolf the time he needed to rush into the house to get Clover.  


"I'm almost there!" Wolf called, shoving past several SWAT on the way. But when he reached the place Clover should have been, she wasn't there.  


"Clover's been taken into police custody!" Bain said with a frustrated tone. Wolf cursed under his breath, turning to exit and return to Dallas.  


“We call this a difficulty tweak!" A Cloaker roared, rushing towards Wolf. Wolf yelped, frightened, before slamming the door shut and pressing his back against it. The Cloaker slammed against it repeatedly, eager to break through. Thankfully, both Wolf and the door held fast, but for how long?  


"He-hey, Dallas? Could you lend me a hand?" Wolf sputtered, ducking down and scrambling for somewhere to hide. The Cloaker laughed maniacally, an arm shooting through the feeble wooden door. Wolf quickly managed to shimmy his way to the top bunk of the bunk bed, pulling up the covers to hide.  


"Almost there!" Dallas replied, and Wolf heard the sound of gunfire coming closer. The Cloaker roared, jumping through the door like it was paper. Then, much to Wolf's chagrin, he turned to face the bunk bed.  


"Fuck you!" Wolf shouted in defiance, tossing his empty pistol towards the Cloaker. Weapons didn't do any good when they were out of ammo. If the Cloaker was fazed by this physical assault, he didn't show it. But it made Wolf feel better at least.  


"Cloaker's taken care of," Dallas called out suddenly, bursting into the room and blasting the Cloaker away. Wolf sighed in relief, hoping down from the top bunk and picking his empty weapon back up.  


"Thanks for the assist," Wolf smiled, happily grabbing the spare clip that Dallas offered him.  


"Come on, let's get you back downstairs. Accident prone kid," Dallas huffed, gently guiding Wolf down to the basement, Wolf protesting all the while.  


"Fookin' Winters," Bonnie cursed, patching herself up over the doctor's bag. Fuckwad, also known as Michele, lay prone in the corner. When Wolf drew closer, he heard a small grumble.  


"Bodhi's Pool Repair. I knew I shouldn't have believe that," Fuckwad bemoaned to himself, only to pipe down when Bonnie turned a glare towards him.  


"I'm sending in Bodhi as backup while I negotiate Clover's release. Don't mess this up, or I'll be sending in Hoxton instead," Bain warned, and Wolf let out a hopeful murmur of, ' _maybe we can get Hoxton now instead_?'. Dallas shook his head at the other man's antics; Hoxton would end up completely blowing the heist out of the water and landing them all over the news. He didn't know the meaning of the word subtle, and when Wolf and him would team up, nothing good would happen. Though, it wasn't like they were doing much better at the moment.  


"We'll hold out for at least a few more bags of money from the printer, then we'll leave when the assault ends," Dallas decided, reloading his rifle and nodding. Wolf, eager to get the show on the road, agreed. After all, how hard would it be?

The assault didn't end. In fact, it never would. Not with Winters situating his ass behind the house, nor with that turret keeping the middle effectively pinned down. Wolf was glad he had Inspire to keep his friends on their toes, but even he knew they wouldn't last much longer. Not at the rate they were going.  


"I don't have any Molotov's," Wolf groaned, rummaging through his empty pockets. In truth, he had accidentally used them all earlier, dropping them into the water when he was running from yet another Cloaker.  


"None for me either," Dallas rasped, winding a bandage around his bloodied arm. Bodhi himself sat behind the pair, flipping through an old magazine with disinterest.  


"Come on brothers, we'll do this together!" Bodhi courageously exclaimed, and Wolf would have been inspired if Bodhi wasn't pulling this out of his ass. For fucks sake, he wasn't even doing anything for the heist. He was sitting there, reading.  


"Got nothin, sorry," Bonnie shrugged, fishing through her pockets. Her eyes widened when her hands hit something hard, and Wolf raised an eyebrow in surprise when Bonnie produced several packages of C4.  


"Fancy that then," Bonnie chuckled, turning them around and smiling. Dallas felt his eye twitch.  


"The whole time, you've had these, and didn't use them?" Dallas said in disbelief, to which Bonnie defensively shrugged.  


"Hey, don't worry, I'll go deal with 'im right now," Bonnie smiled again, before walking up the stairs and leaving to go destroy the captain.  


"After she gets back, we're going to make a break for it, alright Gang?" Dallas said with determination, and Wolf nodded; he really wanted to leave right about now. Maybe go back to the safehouse, talk with Hoxton.  


"Sure thing, brother," Bodhi replied in that stupid voice of his. Wolf narrowed his eyes, and muttered under his breath. If Hoxton were here, Bodhi would certainly sing a different tune.  


"Captain's history!" Bonnie yelled, and the rest of the heisters took this as their cue to leave.  


"Wolf, work on taking those printer plates! Bonnie, Bodhi and I'll transport the money to Bile. Let's rock and roll, people," Dallas commanded, already rushing to grab the bags. Bonnie reappeared in the stairway a moment later, grabbing a sack of money and slinging it over her back. Bodhi, with little enthusiasm, also grabbed a bag.  


"Be done in just a few!" Wolf said to no one in particular, expertly uninstalling the printer plates. Dallas faltered, turning to face Bodhi.  


"On second thought, you stay here and guard Wolf. Nothing you can't handle, right?" Dallas smirked, leaving before Bodhi could drawl out another dull retort.  


"Just a little more," Wolf hummed, fiddling with the rest of the components. Bodhi stood idly by, twirling his gun around his fingers. In the end, his boredom got the best of him, and he meandered out of the basement and into the kitchen for a snack, leaving Wolf alone.  


"Done!" Wolf beamed, proud of his quick and efficient work. He set about packing the plates away, when he felt something behind him.  


"You wanted me back, so I'm back!" The Cloaker screamed, pouncing on Wolf. All Wolf could do was let out a surprised curse, before he was knocked onto the concrete ground.  


"Where do you guys keep coming from!?" Wolf cried, holding up his hands to shield his face from the force of the baton blows. Bodhi either didn't hear him or didn't care.  


"Get the hell off of him!" Dallas roared, charging straight into the Cloaker and ramming him into the wall. Bonnie appeared behind him, helping Wolf off the ground. Meanwhile, Dallas beat the Cloaker within an inch of his life.  


"Let's get out of here," Bonnie nodded, grabbing another set of bags to haul up to the surface. Bile's helicopter waited by idly, and the crew tossed in the last bags of money before signaling for takeoff.  


"Get into the sewers, crew," Bain stated, pointing out the nearby manhole cover. Dallas opened it with little hassle, prompting Bodhi to go down first to see what was there. Apparently, judging by Bodhi's reaction, nothing but poop. Wolf couldn't help but laugh as Bodhi complained about his clothes getting dirty.  


"Careful, don't fall," Dallas warned, and Wolf would have argued had the smell not made him think twice. Well, they'd had worse getaways. Still, it didn't make this one any less unpleasant.  


"Almost there-" Dallas began with relief, only to find himself cut off by a sudden Cloaker appearing out of the blue.  


"Surprise!" The Cloaker cried, rushing forward and delivering a sick spin kick to Dallss, instantly knocking him down. Wolf unloaded into the Cloaker in surprise, dispatching him in a few seconds. What the hell was with all the Cloaker's today?  


"Careful now," Wolf parroted in the same tone Dallas had used earlier. Dallas only glared at him in reply. Bonnie let out a gwuaf at the display, but otherwise remained silent. Bodhi, on the other hand, decided to speak about what was on his mind. Which, considering what he had to work with, wasn't much.  


"I'll take point to defeat the Cloakers," Bodhi proclaimed as though he had all the answers in the world. Dallas, Wolf, or even Bonnie didn't stop him. Even as he rounded the corner and found himself boot to face with another Cloaker.  


"Stop hitting yourself!" The Cloaker laughed, and Bodhi let out a long curse.  


"Don't scuff my jacket, dude!" Bodhi whined.  


"Should we help him?" Wolf asked, not really wanting to. He could just leave him and tell Bain the Feds got him. Dallas sighed.  


"Yes, come on,"  


After that Cloaker was also dealt with, Wolf decided to take the lead with his shotgun, just in case. No one protested, more than happy to let Wolf and his itchy trigger finger take the wheel. But, thankfully, the Gang encountered no further resistance, and soon found themselves at a grate. Behind the grate was a vast and beautiful beach. Wolf could only assume their escape was hidden nearby. Still, it was one hell of a view.  


"That's how it's done," Dallas laughed, and Wolf couldn't help but smile as well. Truthfully, the heist wasn't that bad. Wolf could get used to this. Minus Bodhi, of course.

 

 

 


	2. Forklift Meltdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surely there must be a way to repair the car, right? Not that Wolf would know. The forklift works just as well, probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm serious about the car. Try Meltdown on Overkill difficulty, the car breaks as soon as you touch it. Damn Vlad and his nukes.

"Houston is down!" Bain declared, and Wolf felt his blood go cold. Dallas gave him on look, before they both bolted to the smoking car. Wolf took shotgun, while Dallas took the wheel, and soon the pair was off, rushing back towards the warehouse. If Wolf made it in time, he could revive Houston and-  
Suddenly, a boom.  


"The cars broken!" Wolf screamed, barreling out of the car and onto the ground. Behind him, sniper bullets chewed up the dirt. Dallas soon followed, getting up and sprinting away from the burning car. Wolf ducked behind a wall, taking out his pistol and firing on the snipers blindly.  


"Go, move!" Wolf shouted to Dallas, drawing the sniper fire away from his friend. Dallas rolled his eyes at Wolf's dramatics, instead rushing back and grabbing him by his collar.  


"I'm not leaving you behind!" Dallas yelled, dragging Wolf away from the snipers and back to relative cover. The two of them sat behind a shipping container, nursing their wounds and catching their breath. The voice of Bain was faint in the background, reprimanding them by stating Houston was taken into custody. Neither of them could care at the moment.  


"Ok- ok. We can make it if we go get a forklift," Dallas wheezed out, pointing to the forklift...halfway across the map. Wolf groaned, gripping his sides and whimpering audibly. His armor felt like paper mâché, and his bullet wounds had bullet wounds.  


"Fuck, ok, let's do this. I've got two clips left for my pistol," Wolf nodded, standing up in a very wobbly fashion. Dallas helped Wolf steady himself, and the pair began their fight towards the warehouse. There were two nukes left inside, and they intended to get the job done or die trying. But, at the rate they were going, death seemed more and more likely by the second.  


"Dallas, behind you!" Wolf yelped, leveling a shotgun and pulling the trigger, only to be met with an empty click. Dallas turned around in confusion, before the Cloaker kicked him in the face and onto the ground. Wolf ran forward, only to feel a sniper bullet to rip right through his shoulder. He stumbled, the world turning a deep red, but continued to push onwards.  


"Kliva av, knulla dig!" Wolf growled, pushing the Cloaker to the side and pulling out Jacket's machete. The Cloaker looked up at him in what might have been fear, though Wolf couldn't tell. The world was one Cloaker fewer a moment later.  


"Up, up," Wolf commanded, grabbing Dallas' hand and pulling him off the ground. Then, Dallas pulled Wolf behind a rusted shipping container, hiding from the bullets that whizzed by.  


"Here, take some ammo," Dallas offered, and Wolf eagerly accepted, feeding it into his shotgun with a tired relief.  


"Patch yourself up," Wolf said as well, placing down a medic bag, which Dallas quickly used.  


"Ok. It's a straight shot towards the warehouse from here. Think you can make it?" Dallas joked, poking Wolf in the side with his pistol. Wolf complained in protest, before laughing and rushing forward. It wouldn't be long now, then they could all go home. Relax, watch some tv. Those thoughts alone spurred Dallas and Wolf on, though Wolf's featured Hoxton more.  


"We'll have to drive the forklift through the gunfire," Dallas stated, piling some bags into the front of the forklift. Wolf adjusted the cocaine bag on his back, frowning in response.  


"You'll get torn to shreds out there!" Wolf objected, expertly taking out a sniper as Dallas began to drive out of the building. There wasn't any room on the back of the forklift for Wolf, so he had to walk beside it at a brisk pace. It wasn't difficult by any stretch of the word, more of an annoyance.  


"I'll be fine," Dallas dismissed, and Wolf only sputtered in response. Dallas would die instantly unless someone drew the turrets attention. But who? Houston and John Wick were both in custody. That only left...  


"Knulla. Drive faster, I have a plan," Wolf huffed, sprinting ahead of Dallas' slow ass forklift and directly into the Great Wall of enemies. Including a turret, oh fun!  


"Hey, asshole, over here!" Wolf shouted, waving his arms to draw the turrets attention. The sound of shredding metal notified him that said attention had indeed been caught. Then came the fun part. While Dallas drove past the turret, Wolf would have to keep its attention away from his partner. Simple enough, but his bullet wounds said otherwise.  


Eventually, Dallas had managed to make his way to the drop-off point. That only left Wolf to follow him, albeit without a forklift of his own. Wolf cursed under his breath, nervously pacing back and forth. The bag on his back felt heavier than before.  


"Alright. Let's do this," Wolf nervously exhaled, before reloading his gun, counting to three, and sprinting straight towards the enemies. Instantly, the turret zeroed in on him, and Wolf had to dive behind cover to catch his breath. Then, he got back up again, saying a small curse before sprinting the rest of the way. He made it safely to the building, and gingerly began to slip through the small opening towards the train that Dallas currently sat on as he waited to depart.  


"Almost there," Wolf stated over his comms, gripping his sides as they burned and his head swam. Might have been the nukes they were transferring, who knew.  


"Wolf, get in here!" Dallas commanded, helping Wolf up into the train car and dusting him off.  


"Glad to see you alive!" Dallas laughed, bringing Wolf in for a tired hug. Wolf weakly returned the gesture, before smiling and saying,  


"I wouldn't come back if I wasn't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just been informed you CAN fix it. I am a dishonor to my ancestors.


	3. Dodge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolf and Dallas go on a super hype motel adventure. Bodhi tags along, unfortunately. Oh, and Wolf tries out the dodge skill, but it makes him nervous as heck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had this 90% written like two years ago and just found it, so I slapped on an ending and called it a day. You'll know when you get there. My writing style ain't what it used to be.

   "The key is to go fast," Dallas stated with a solemn expression. Wolf stared at him with uncertainty, still unsure if he should believe him.  
   
   "But if I don't have armor, how will I-" Wolf began, gesturing wildly to the Titan armor hanging up just a few feet away. Dallas put a hand up to stop Wolf's ramblings, staring intensely at him.

  "Go fast," Dallas said simply, like that meant all of Wolf's questions were answered. Wolf huffed in irritation, but otherwise only grumbled as he put his armor away. It was one thing to charge into a heist wearing only a small set of armor, but none at all? Wolf wondered what the hell Dallas was thinking. Dodge or not, it seemed insane.

   "Dudes, let's kick back and watch some football!" Bodhi exclaimed with a smarmy grin, popping up right behind Wolf. Wolf, considering the circumstances, couldn't be faulted for yelling in surprise and punching Bodhi in the face. At least, that's what he told himself.

   "Not my beautiful face," Bodhi whispered as he crumbled to the floor in pain. Wolf stepped away from the man groveling in pain, looking around to make sure no one saw that. Dallas only raised an eyebrow as Wolf backed away and fled to start the heist. Dallas awkwardly looked down at Bodhi, who continued to groan dramatically about his 'beautiful face'. 

   "Wolf, wait up!" Dallas decided, rushing after his teammate and leaving Bodhi prone on the floor. Not their problem now. 

  One hour later, Dallas and Wolf sat in a car, slowly driving to the heist. Well, Dallas was the one driving, seeing how little he trusted Wolf with that sort of thing. Their destination: a Russian controlled motel, apparently tied to the Commissar. Dallas didn't protest, even if the job seemed more like busywork than anything else. He knew why they were doing it.

   "The Dentist has sent us after a Russian mobster, calls himself the Commissar. He's got criminal interests all over the East Coast, including this little song down at the heights. We don't know where he is, so you need to apply a little pressure. We've dropped him a hotline to us. Bust that place up as much as you can and he should call. We're doing this for Hoxton." Bain stated with a certain solemn edge to his voice. Wolf winced, though only slightly, still bitter over the loss of Hoxton, even if it had been two years and counting. It didn't make him any less upset of course, and statistics didn't do much to soothe his guilt. Dallas, sensing his friend's unrest, spoke up.

   "Hey. Don't worry, we'll get this heist done and we'll get Hoxton out soon. Trust me," Dallas said hopefully, carefully navigating the car, and Wolf felt the dark cloud lift from his head, if only slightly. 

   "Alright. Let's rock and roll," Wolf grinned, placing a single tiara upon his head. Dallas nodded at him, pulling the car up to a stop in front of a seedy motel. The neon sign rotated, proclaiming its location of East Riverdale. This was where the Dentist had told them to go. Was the Commissar hiding something important here, important enough to warrant the Dentist's attention? Wolf wasn't sure, and honestly didn't care. He'd do whatever it would take to get Hoxton back. 

   "Finally caught up to you guys!" Bodhi exclaimed, roaring up beside Dallas and Wolf on a loud motorcycle. Instantly, every Russian mobster in the area was alerted, dropping any possible pretense of stealth right off. Wolf whined loudly and Dallas felt another headache coming on.

   "Houston is enroute to your location. Get in there and cause some trouble," Bain stated, before going silent. Dallas only huffed and shrugged his shoulders, pulling out his assault rifle from under the seat. 

"Ilija the Sniper. I'm here," a raspy voice said over the comms, before going silent. Wolf shivered involuntarily, turning to one very tense Dallas as the pair exited the car and pointedly ignored Bodhi.

   "Who's that guy?" Wolf inquired, unholstering his Akimbo pistols as he faced Dallas. Dallas looked pensive for a moment, before speaking. Bodhi flailed his arms wildly in the background to try and gain their attention.

   "I heard he was betrayed by the Commissar. That's why you'll hear him..." Dallas began, pointing vaguely behind him to the tree line, where a single red dot sight could vaguely be made out, coming from one of the tree branches.

  "One," Ilijah stated with a serious lack of emotion as he shot one of the mobsters. Wolf shifted nervously behind Dallas, if only by a few inches. 

   "-Count. He'll be doing that a lot, get used to it," Dallas offered, patting Wolf weakly on the back. Wolf frowned, before shaking the hand off and standing at attention. He had to wrap this heist quickly and professionally, that way they'd be one step closer to breaking Hoxton out. But, as with all things, it wouldn't be that simple. Especially not with Bodhi. 

   "Busting up this motel is our first step to getting Hoxton free. Head in there," Bain reminded them once more, and Wolf felt as though Bain was getting back at them for blowing up the meth lab in the last heist. Did he really have to remind them every other minute? 

   "What did I miss?" Houston chimed in, appearing next to Dallas a few minutes later, dressed to the nines in a spiffy set of Titan armor that Wolf wished he had on him.   

    "Wolf won't stop boarding up windows," Dallas said with a sigh, and Wolf shot him a glare. It would have been more effective, had Wolf not been boarding up yet another window as he did so.

   "There's just so many boards lying around," Wolf attempted to reason, which was half true, "I can't help it."

   "Remember, track down the mobsters. Track them down, and put them down," Bain's voice broke Wolf out of his frantic plank gathering, reminding him of his current task. Of course, Wolf just continued to gather planks for the windows, and Dallas let out a defeated sigh.

   "Don't worry, I'll deal with them, dudes," Bodhi stated, deciding to be helpful for once in his life. Or, he would have been, had he not immediately been downed by one of the mobsters. Houston turned to Dallas with a sort of disbelieving look, before shaking his head and heading upstairs to help Bodhi. Dallas decided that enough was enough, and went about the task of moping up the remaining mobsters. Wolf merrily continued to board up windows. On the upside, he found a meth lab.

   "That's all of them," Bain reported after Dallas delivered the shot to the final russian mobster. Wolf rushed up beside him, smiling wildly and almost falling over in the process. 

   "This dodge build is great!" Wolf laughed, and Dallas only raised an eyebrow in amusement.

   "You sure? You didn't seem to like it earlier," Dallas prodded with a grin and a chuckle, earning a glare from Wolf. Houston meandered up behind the pair, Bodhi in tow. Said Bodhi was using a lot of hand motions as he passionately explained the meaning behind his tattoos, and Houston looked as though he longed for death.

  "What-" Houston began, only for a loud voice to suddenly rip through their comms. So loud, in fact, that they all frantically scrambled to turn the volume down, and even then it was still loud. The person on the other end didn't seem to know how to use his inside voice.

  "I don't know who you are. But I will find out. You fuck with me, you find you fuck with the wrong Russian my friend," The voice of the Commissar roared, before the phone went silent with a single, sad beep. Wolf gripped his ears in pain, and Dallas might have grumbled something about needing ear surgery after this was done. Bodhi didn't seemed phased one bit, while Houston on the other hand looked like he was about to vomit. Dallas gave Houston a very light pat of apology, but in their current state it was more of a clumsy shove that sent the younger man tumbling to the floor.

  "The trace is working, but I need more time. Get him back on the line. Keep trashing!" Bain exclaimed, oblivious to the suffering of his heisters. When no one made any attempt to move, especially Houston and his position prone on the floor, Bain decided to pipe in again.

    "We'll send these Russians to hell. And their cars. There's a gas station nearby. See if you can find something to help the fire," Bain instructed, and Wolf opened his mouth to speak, his hearing having recovered enough to make sense of the words, but Bodhi cut him off. Dallas, too busy hoisting Houston up off the ground, failed to notice.

   "I'll take care of everything outside!" Bodhi announced, pushing past the still dazed Houston and right into the middle of a police assault. Almost as quickly as he left, Bodhi walked right back into the room, now with significantly more bullet holes.

   "On second thought, you can do it brother," Bodhi gave Wolf a friendly pat on the back, and all Wolf did was let out a very low yet very long string of Swedish curses, all directed towards Bodhi. 

   "Just because I can run fast with my dodge build," Wolf grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air. Metaphorically of course, because his hands were in reality very busy gripping his pistols for all they were worth, so as not to punch Bodhi in the face. 

   "I'll come with you," Dallas nodded, dragging Houston by his coat sleeve out onto the battlefield. Bodhi stood inside the motel room for a moment, shuffling in place.

   "Bodhi, stay and make meth. Don't mess this up. The recipe is right there," Dallas helpfully pointed towards the whiteboard in the corner of the room. Three colorful yet simplified illustrations adorned it, so that literally anyone could follow the instructions on how to make meth, even a child. Or, in this case, a grown manchild.

   "How do I cook this, brothers?" Bodhi demanded as Dallas fled the room with Houston in tow, Bodhi apparently unable to follow simple directions. The other heisters pretended not to hear Bodhi's confused cries, instead running to the gas station to start some fires.

   "Wow Dallas, that's some major gas you have," Wolf chuckled, hefting a gas can onto his back with a small struggle. Dallas raised at eyebrow under his mask, but didn't reply. 

   "I'm gonna add caustic soda first," Bodhi decided before Dallas could correct him, followed by a deafening boom and the distinct smell of burning and shame. Wolf tried to turn his head away from the scent, but it lingered in the air. 

   "Did he just blow up the meth lab?" Houston whispered under his breath as he threw a gas can into the bed of a truck. 

   "Don't worry, I'm fine brothers!" Bodhi shouted to reassure them, but Wolf wasn't feeling very reassured. So, he set his gas can down on top of one of the cars and rushed up the stairs to the meth lab, only to be met by fire. 

   "Dra åt helvete?" Wolf yelled, watching Bodhi simply stare at the flames. 

   "That's three" Iljah butted in, stopping Wolf's tirade. All Wolf could do was curse and drag Bodhi out of the room, trying to ignore the fact that they just blew about a million extra dollars in meth. Bain was going to flip.

   "Boom," Dallas stated as he opened fire on the gas canisters. The cars went up in flames, like a kind of twisted bonfire, except with Russian mobsters instead of marshmallows. 

  "Nothing I like more than seeing cheap foreign cars going up in smoke," Bain whistled like a kid watching fireworks. Wolf would have enjoyed them more, but he was still somewhat bitter over the loss of the meth lab. 

    "One more trip and that should be enough," Dallas nodded, and Wolf trudged on behind him. Bodhi moved to follow them, but was stopped by Houston.

   "Go and...find the Commissar's vault?" Houston attempted, and Bodhi nodded fiercely.

   "Yes, my brothers," Bodhi said with determination, before rushing into a motel room. Once they were rid of him, the trio ran off to continue making some fires. Soon, all the cars were up in flames, and Bain pipped in over the comms.

   "That's a beautiful car. Shame. But it's part of the job," "Bain demonstrated his bipolar tendencies as he suddenly swapped opinions entirely about the cars. Wolf would have argued, but then he realized he didn't care enough to do that, so he kept quiet and continued to take potshots at the various policemen that swarmed around the motel.

    "Why you sniveling shopa! For this, I will scoop out your eyes and feed your bones to my dogs!" The Commissar screeched, still uncomfortably loud but at least they could understand him for once. Wolf made a note to ask Sokol later what Russian slang the Commissar was shouting. Probably nothing good, considering, but it didn't hurt to ask.

   "Damnit, I almost had him. Definitely near the centre. Keep at it," Bain commanded, as though the crew didn't already know. Wolf counted to ten, waiting for Bain to announce the next step of the plan. True to Wolf's prediction, Bain spoke up a moment later.

  "I've stowed some Plastic explosive in the DeLorean. You can use it to make that gas station go up like the Tsar Bomba!" Bain exclaimed.

  With that taken care of, Wolf continued to rush around, propping himself up against a wall when his vision went red. A moment passed, with Wolf breathing heavily to try and call himself. A sudden shout over the comms alerted Wolf again.

   "Bodhi's down!" Bain informed the crew, before going silent. Wolf peaked over the wall and confirmed Bain's words, as Bodhi lay prone on the ground a few meters away from Wolf. A quick check confirmed that Dallas and Houston were busy rigging the c4 up at the gas station, too far away to reach Bodhi in time. Wolf grumbled, before reloading his pistols and charging out to help the other man. Just because he really didn't like Bodhi didn't mean he couldn't help him. 

  "Thanks dude," Bodhi rasped as Wolf crouched down to pull him up. Just as Bodhi got up, Wolf heard the telltale firing of a sniper, and he knew that it wasn't Iijah. Thinking quickly, Wolf shoved Bodhi down the stairs, the sniper fire missing him by an inch. Wolf wasn't so lucky when a second sniper decided to fire again. 

   "Oh fuck!" Wolf cursed as the shot tore through his chest, though thankfully it managed to miss anything vital. Nonetheless, since Wolf's own health was already in the red the shot threw him down onto the ground, and despite his best efforts Wolf found that he couldn't get back up again. 

   "Wolf is down!" Bain noted in vaguely masked amusement, and Wolf growled under his breath.

   "I'll go get help, brother!" Bodhi shouted from under the stairs, before he ran off, likely in search of Dallas. Wolf only shouted weakly at him as he left, feeling his own vision beginning to blur. 

  "I could use a hand," Wolf half groaned, half whined over the comms, staring up at the increasingly blurry ceiling above him as his vision rapidly began going dark. He was vaguely aware of an explosion off in the distance and some yelling in his ears, which must have been the gas station, or at least Wolf thought. Several seconds later, Dallas ran to help Wolf, but by the time he reached the Swedish man he was gone. 

   "Wolf's been taken into police custody," Bain announced, followed by a series of rapid taps on a keyboard, and then silence. 

   "How many hostages do we have?" Dallas asked Houston, who was busy bandaging Bodhi's arm.

   "One," Houston stated, quickly finishing up and hoisting Bodhi up off the ground. 

   "Bodhi, guard that hostage," Dallas commanded, "And please don't fuck this up." Dallas recalled earlier that Wolf had made vague hand motions about capturing a hostage and hiding them in one of the bathrooms. Dallas hadn't been paying enough attention at the time to remember where exactly Wolf had stashed the poor person, but now would be an excellent time to find out.  
   

 

The heist dragged on and on. Meanwhile, Wolf remained in the back of a police car, bored out of his mind and slightly confused, like a homeless man on house arrest. The police honestly gave him the heeby-jeebies, because they had nothing else to give. Thankfully, salvation came as the Commissar screamed wordlessly over the comms and the motel went up in flames. Wolf watched in awe, with the burning vehicles dotted around, and not a moment later he could see the other heisters as they ran out of the burning building. Dallas quickly ran to the police cruiser and slammed the door open, grabbing Wolf by the arms as they ran to the DeLorean.

"Wasn't the same without you, buddy," Dallas smiled jokingly, and Wolf felt an unexplainable rush of joy. Soon, they'd have Hoxton out, and it would all be worth it. Even if they had to deal with Bodhi first.


	4. Boiling Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Russia is cold, EMP's explode, and Bain is as helpful as ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's only been half a year since the last chapter. That line at Walmart is no joke.  
> Shoutout to the depressing fact that Wolf has no new dialogue lines in any of the recent updates because his voice actor quit. I love you Wolf but you've gone and made me sad, boy.

Wolf didn't really know what to expect with their newest heist, but he was relatively sure it would be fine. Russia was cold, like Sweden, so at least it wouldn't be hot like their Counterfeit job in Florida. Hopefully with less Cloakers too. He packed a scarf just in case. Soon, they were on a plane and in the air. Wolf took his seat next to Hoxton and began to chatter happily about the weather in Sweden, while Sokol and Dallas stared out the windows. After a while, Wolf began to grow tired, his speech slowing down and trailing off, until he stopped entirely, slumping against Hoxton's shoulder, asleep.

"Anti-air defenses? Are you shitting me?! I can't fly any further! Take the parachutes and jump out!" The pilot suddenly screamed, jolting Wolf awake. Hoxton cursed, standing up and shoving a parachute into Wolf's arms, while Dallas and Sokol began to jump out. Wolf hastily put the parachute on and followed Hoxton out.

The Russian air was bitterly cold, icy wind blowing relentlessly on the crew as they fell from the sky. Wolf could barely see, squinting against the howling wind, but finally he saw land. Pine trees and snow stretched out before him, and Wolf thought it was beautiful, at least for the moment he had to admire it before he had to pull the cord on his parachute. He looked around and was relieved to see the others drifting down with him. Bain piped up in their earpieces, sounding relatively unworried that they had almost been shot down and killed.

"That's Russia for you, gang! These guys do not mess around!" Bain quipped.

"Shit shit shit!" Someone screamed in the background. Was it the pilot? Wolf wasn't sure. He waved briefly at Hoxton instead. Hoxton didn't notice, far too busy freezing his ass off. The gang landed safely moments later, setting foot in fresh snow that sunk underfoot. Wolf felt right at home, as did Sokol. Dallas and Hoxton, not so much.

"Fuck me, it's cold," Hoxton spat, and Wolf couldn't help but wonder why they were all dressed in suits if their mission was in Russia. Maybe Bain couldn't afford to buy them scarves? Thankfully, Dallas was on the case, pulling out some hand warmers from his bag and tossing one each to the crew. Hoxton ripped his open immediately, while Sokol scoffed and put his in his pocket.

"Little baby hand warmers, this cold is nothing," Sokol boasted. Wolf was inclined to agree, but he saved his for later, just in case.

"You need to disable or destroy the anti-air defenses. Find a way, otherwise we're screwed," Bain announced as a siren blared in the background. Dallas nodded, motioning for the group to follow. They began to trudge through the snow, weapons at the ready, until another voice piped in.

"There's a present down there for you comrades. A nice bag of C4," a Russian voice stated. Wolf wondered again if that was the pilot from earlier, or if it was Vlad, back to haunt them. But, nonetheless they found the promised C4. Hoxton handed them to Wolf, since that was his area of expertise. Wolf quickly stashed them in his bag.

"Excellent, you have the explosives. Now, plant them on the radar," Bain explained. Wolf grumbled, trudging on ahead through the snow towards the objective. Gunfire had begun to erupt in the distance, and Wolf wasn't sure if it was the Russian mercenaries firing in their general direction or if someone else had decided to piss them off. Maybe they had seen a bear or something.

"Dallas was downed!" Bain announced, and Wolf turned around, bewildered. Sure enough, Dallas was on the ground, taking in a mask full of snow as a Cloaker drop kicked him. Wolf whined, looking around for Hoxton or Sokol. They were by the main gate, busy fighting off a wave of mercenaries, and so Wolf ran over to Dallas, pistol drawn as he sprinted.

"Låt honom vara!" Wolf shouted, quick to dispatch the Cloaker. Then, he crouched down and helped Dallas back up, "Get up, get up."

"Thanks, I didn't think they'd come so early," Dallas stated, and Wolf wondered briefly why the Russian mercenaries had been training Cloakers anyway. He didn't think on it too long, instead rushing back over to Hoxton and Sokol.

"Took you long enough," Sokol huffed, reloading his rifle and shaking his head. Dallas rolled his eyes (Wolf could tell by the way his shoulders rolled) and began to take care of the many mercenaries that began to appear.

"Seems that radar is controlling the anti-air gun. You need to blow it up," Bain commanded, but Wolf didn't need to be told twice, quickly taking C4 out of his bag and planting it along the armored plates. Soon, all four had been placed, and he rapidly backpedaled.

"Watch out, it's about to blow!" Wolf shouted, taking cover behind one of the many snow-covered rocks that dotted the landscape. The rest of the crew followed, and moments later the radar was blown sky high. Wolf smiled triumphantly as the dust began to settle: one down, one to go.

"Boom, nice work gang!" Bain announced. He was drowned out by the sudden cry of shock that erupted from Sokol as he was overcome by a wave of mercenaries. Wolf wondered where they kept coming from, but he didn't really care, quickly helping Sokol up and running over anti-air gun itself. He quickly linked to computer to Bain.

"Ok, give me a minute or two. I'll disable this AA gun," Bain said.

"A minute or two? We can barely stay up for more than two seconds!" Hoxton scowled amidst a wave of gunfire. Dallas didn't bother responding as he picked off the Shields that had begun to get too close. Wolf was pretty sure he saw a bulldozer in the distance too. He concluded, as bullets whizzed past, that Russia was not a very nice place to be. Hoxton screamed curses in response to the enemies closing in.

"Вы суки!" Came the faint screams of Russian mercenaries. Wolf didn't understand a word, but Sokol did and he was quick to reply.

"Ешьте член!" Sokol retorted, leveling his rifle and rapidly pulling the trigger. Wolf decided to add his own curses in, for lack of anything better to do.

"Du slåss som gamla män!" Wolf shouted, firing off his shotgun into the mass of mercenaries that had begun to push forward. Two minutes of intense fighting passed, until finally the waves stopped, and the anti-aircraft gun was offline.

"Flying in with the EMP right now," The Russian voice said pleasantly. Wolf looked at the sky in confusion; what EMP?

"Straight through the roof! Boom!" The voice, and now Wolf was positive it was the pilot, said happily. Wolf whipped around but was too late to see it happen. But, the pilot sounded pleased, so that meant it worked.

"Ok gang. We need to find a way into the lumber mill. This might be crazy, but maybe we could use the anti-air gun we hacked earlier? Just redirect its position and blow the wall up!" Bain wondered aloud, and seeing as they didn't have any better plans, the crew decided to go along with it. Dallas walked over to the computer and began to re-calibrate the position, while the other three stayed on the lookout for any surprise attacks. Finally, Dallas stood back and let the machine do its work. It beeped warningly, and Wolf took a step closer to Hoxton as the machine let out a dangerous groan. Without missing a beat, the gun fired onto the wall, exploding the bricks into the air. Sokol cursed and covered his head in surprise, while Hoxton whistled in admiration at the display. Dallas began to divvy up the ammo and any Medkits needed, while Wolf ran ahead into the compound main area, not noticing the downed Bulldozer beside him in his haste. The Dozer rapidly got back onto his feet and attacked the first thing he saw. Regretfully, that thing was Wolf.

"Бульдозер здесь!" The Dozer roared. Wolf yelped in surprise and vague confusion, firing his shotgun off but doing little to faze the Dozer. The Bulldozer, true to his name, quickly charged forward and knocked Wolf down. Wolf only continued to yell as he frantically backpedaled, trying to pull out his pistol or anything to stop the hulking armored man. He looked over, searching for his teammates, and was surprised to see them fighting off a sudden influx of mercenaries. In fact, Wolf wasn't even sure they knew he was gone. That's what he got for running on ahead.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" Wolf shouted. The Bulldozers back home were bad enough, but the Russian ones were even more frightening. Wolf looked back towards his teammates and decided to try and get their attention.

"Dallas, anybody, help?!" Wolf cried out, and this time it seemed they heard him. But, again, a fresh wave of mercenaries closed in and cut off any routes of escape. Wolf turned back to look at the Bulldozer, who had drawn his shotgun and was approaching menacingly. Between the chilling snow, the aches in his sides, and the adrenaline, Wolf could only really come up with one plan. Or, more specifically, the plan came to him in the form of the hammer that Wolf had accidentally taken from Houston earlier.

"Shit shit shit!" Wolf cursed, taking the hammer out and scrambling to his feet. He turned to the Bulldozer and stopped, before steeling himself and running forward. The Dozer stood there for a moment, taken by surprise, and that's all the time Wolf needed for the hammer to connect with the Dozer's faceplate, cracking the glass. The Bulldozer stumbled back, but Wolf continued his assault, knocking the Bulldozer over. Wolf brought the hammer down again and again, until the faceplate had been torn away and the man under the armor was long since dead. Wolf deflated like a balloon, his screams dying in his throat as he dropped the red hammer into the stained snow. Bain's voice could be faintly heard over the comm's, telling that the assault had ended. Wolf sat there for a moment, before standing back up and brushing snow off his pants. Sokol quickly rushed over to Wolf, looking him over to make sure he was in one piece.

"Hey, I found little Wolfie!" Sokol shouted to the other members, and soon after Hoxton and Dallas appeared.

"Christ, you still in one piece then?" Hoxton prodded, an undercurrent of relief in his joking tone. Wolf nodded; aside from his chest, he felt fine. If anyone noticed the dead Bulldozer, they didn't mention it, and soon the crew were back on track.

"Gang, the EMP needs to charge before we can use it. It will take some time," Bain stated, breaking the silence. Wolf still didn't know where the EMP even was. Dallas continued to lead the crew forward as another wave began.

"сука блять," Wolf could faintly make out the words of a Russian mercenary as he ran away. The meaning was lost to him, but only further instigated Sokol, who spat back in Russian.

Soon, the gang made it into the warehouse, wherein a giant bomb lay imbedded in the concrete. Wolf had a feeling this was the EMP. Given his background with explosives, he quickly volunteered to go activate it. Besides, that meant he wouldn't have to deal with anymore Bulldozers. The rest of the gang fanned out in the warehouse, taking point at the doorways and windows. After a moment, the EMP was armed and Wolf stood back to admire his work.

"Protect the EMP! The mercenaries will do anything to stop you!" Bain shouted in the comms. Wolf winced, the volume much louder than anticipated. Dallas shouted something back in affirmation, before setting down an medical bag for group.

"Hold this place down, gang," Dallas nodded, and Sokol laughed in response.

"I'll show those суки a real Russian," Sokol replied, before firing his rifle out of the window and into the fray.

"Do you know what we'll find down there?" Hoxton inquired through the comms. Bain was silent for a moment, before responding.

"The EMP will not only give us a way in, but also knock out the test subjects. Trust me, you don't want to deal with those guys," Bain stated gravely. Wolf looked over at Hoxton in alarm and mouthed the words 'test subjects?' in confusion. Bain didn't elaborate, and the crew was left feeling on edge as they continued to defend the EMP.

A few minutes passed, and at one point Wolf made the mistake of touching the electrified fence blocking the lab, but aside from that it was uneventful. The EMP began to beep with increasing frequency as time progressed. Wolf thought it sounded a bit like a microwave on overdrive.

"Guys, listen. When the EMP goes off I won't be able to communicate with you for a while. You need to get down to the hidden laboratory via the hatch," Bain said with a certain seriousness to his voice. Wolf felt uneasy at the idea that they wouldn't be able to communicate with Bain while they were down there. After all, it could be dangerous. Evidentially, Dallas thought the same.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me," Dallas groaned in frustration. He didn't want to lead his crew into an unknown and dangerous laboratory, and he definitely didn't want to do it without having Bain on the comms in case anything went wrong. Sokol didn't seem fazed in the slightest, but Wolf stood next to Hoxton with mounting anxiety as the EMP finally began to power up.

"The EMP should release the magnetic lock. Once you're down there, find the scanner and the test-subjects," Bain stated.

"What the fuck do you mean by test- subjects?" Hoxton barked, but Bain's voice had faded into a barely audible static. The EMP began to screech as it drew it power, the sounds deafening in small room. Wolf squeezed his eyes shut as it finally cumulated and seemed to stop for a moment, before detonating with an incredibly loud and enormous boom. Instantly, the lights in the room went out, and the comms went silent. The crew stood there for a moment amidst the complete and utter silence, and Wolf felt it was more than a little unnerving. Finally, a tinny voice spoke up, crackling and garbled through static.

"Guys, can you hear me? Hello? Enter the lab via the hatch. It should be open," Bain said, but anything else had been strangled by static.

"Bain?!" Dallas shouted, but again, there was nothing, "Fuck! Now what?"

"Down into the lab," Sokol decided, taking point. Wolf followed behind him, shotgun drawn as he stuck close to Hoxton. Hoxton held his two pistols out, akimbo, anxiously scanning the small hallway they walked down. Finally, they entered a large room. Guards began to swarm but were quickly dispatched, and the entire room was bathed in the harsh glow of red emergency lights. A few scientists held their hands in the air in fright.

The crew cautiously made their way down the stairs and into the room. In the operating chair was a mangled body, likely one of the test subjects. Dallas was the first to speak up.

"What the fuck?" Dallas breathed in surprise and a bit of disgust. He rapidly turned his attention to the scientists and shouted for them to get on the ground. When they didn't comply, Sokol was quick to take over. 

"На земле, в настоящее время!" He demanded. The scientists frantically followed suit, and Dallas tied them up quickly.

There were many different hallways branching off of the main room, but Dallas lead the way.

"This way, follow me!" Dallas commanded, and Wolf wasn't about to argue. The whole place gave him the creeps, even if he did have a gun and enough ammunition to level a small state. As the group made their way down the dimly lit hallways, Bain finally managed to regain connection. It was still garbled, but it was better than nothing.

"Ok, the scientists working here are using some next level shit. You're gonna need the lead scientist for handprint identification. See where he's hiding," Bain commanded. Wolf really didn't want to do much of anything except maybe go home, but Hoxton nudged him forward.

"Not getting cold feet now, are you Wolfie? Come on, let's get this done and head home," Hoxton affirmed in a friendly tone. Wolf nodded, drawing his shotgun and keeping it at the ready. It couldn't be that hard, right?

It was that hard. The facility was intricate and winding, and Wolf wasn't partial to being riddled with bullets as the Russian mercs flooded the halls. Finally, they found the lead scientist. Just, not exactly in one piece. His body lay propped up against the wall, positively coated in blood. Wolf wasn't sure if most of it was even his own. The crew was silent for a moment as the stared at the grizzly scene.

"What the hell happened to this guy?! Whatever, we need this guy's hand," Bain said, barely audible through static. Sokol made a noise of disbelief, and Dallas only raised an eyebrow in surprise at Bain's command. The eyes of the crew shifted around, no one really wanting to do it, until Wolf stepped forward with a saw from one of the nearby tables, quickly and efficiently cutting the hand off of the scientist. The crew didn't think on it too hard as they made their way to the scanner.

"Looks like the power is back on, gang," Bain said in relief. True to his word, the bright bulbs soon turned back on, flooding the hallways with light. Wolf was filled with relief as he quickly made his way back to the scanner, still holding the bloodied hand. He placed the hand on the scanner until it activated, at which Wolf hastily discarded the hand and made a noise of displeasure and disgust.

"It seems to have worked. You should be able to start the scanning-process now," Bain began, "Now find the test-subjects and get them to the scanner. You are looking for some bald guys."

"Can't we just use Wolf?" Sokol asked jokingly. Wolf cupped his head protectively, and Hoxton stepped in.

"Not if we can't use you, loverboy," Hoxton retorted, while Sokol sputtered 'that doesn't even make sense'

"Enough fighting. Come on, let's go pick up some dead guys," Dallas said with a long-suffering sigh. The crew carefully fought their way to the main room, at which Dallas offered to carry one of the bodies to the scanner. When they got back to the room, however, they were greeted with a surprise: a turret.

"Oh shit!" Wolf, who had stepped into the room first, was quickly targeted by the turret and shot. He fell to the ground, but thankfully Hoxton was there to drag him behind cover. Most of the bullets had hit his ballistic vest, but a few had clipped his shoulders and legs. Hoxton cursed and motioned for Dallas, at which Dallas took out some medical supplies and quickly got to work. While he was patching up Wolf, Hoxton and Sokol positioned themselves on opposite sides of the pair. Hoxton held the mercenaries at bay while Sokol took out the turret. Once Dallas was done and the turret was down, the crew made their way back into the room, Dallas throwing the body onto the table.

"Ok. We're all set to begin the scanning," Bain stated. Dallas activated the computer and stood back, taking shots at the Mercs as they ran into the room. Overhead, Wolf heard a familiar beeping sound, and looked up to see the turret reactivating.

"I thought you took care of it!" Hoxton shouted to Sokol as the gang took cover.

"I-I thought I did!" Sokol replied frantically. Wolf only screamed vaguely from behind a metal cart. Sokol steeled himself and fired on the turret once more, until this time he was sure it was dead.

"Protect the scanner! Don't let the mercenaries get to it!" Bain reminded the crew. Wolf didn't want to do much of anything. So, thankfully for them, the scanning process was blissfully uneventful.

"The scan has been completed! Well done, gang," Bain praised. Wolf looked over at the scanner and was pleasantly surprised to see he was right. They could leave with the data right away!

"The data from the scanning is being collected on that served in the other room. You can stay and get more data, or you can leave. But I'm sure Jimmy would pay us for the trouble," Bain trailed off. Dallas took a good, long look at the scanner, before looking back at the facility which was still teeming with angry Russian mercenaries. He then looked over at his crew. Wolf looked like hell, Sokol didn't exactly look great either, and Dallas himself felt like he went five rounds with a Bulldozer. So, he quickly made his decision.

"Let's grab that server!" Dallas proclaimed, and Wolf was quite happy to follow. The crew made their way to the server room, only to stop: it was blocked by a door that needed to be drilled. Said door was in the middle of a hall, swarming with enemies. Wolf died a little inside.

"Hoxton, go look for a keycard!" Dallas barked, and Hoxton quickly ran off in search of the keycard. There was no way they'd be able to hold off the Russian mercenaries long enough for the drill to work. A few moments later, Hoxton reappeared with the keycard.

"I've got it!" Hoxton exclaimed, quickly putting it into the scanner. The door opened a second later, with the Gang rushing in. It was pleasantly small and a pristine white, but the server they needed was on the back wall of the room. Wolf took point and quickly grabbed the server, unscrewing it from its place on the mainframe and putting it in his pack. The weight was surprisingly heavy, but he soldiered on.

"Ok, let's-" Dallas began, only for Bain to cut them off.

"That's right! I almost forgot. There is a briefcase in the laboratory. I'm gonna need you to get it. It's important," Bain revealed. Wolf whined, while Hoxton cursed. Meanwhile, Sokol quickly volunteered to grab it.

"No, let's grab it as a team, that way we can't get jumped," Dallas stated, and that was the end of discussion. The crew rushed over to the promised briefcase, only to find: another turret.

"vad fan?!" Wolf exclaimed as he dropped behind cover. The last turret had nearly taken out the entire team, and this one was in an even worse location.

"Don't worry, my friends, I'll get the case," Sokol reassured his teammates, and before Dallas could stop him he was off. The sound the turret frantically unloading bullets was heard throughout the halls, until it fell silent. Sokol reemerged a moment later, bloodied by triumphant.

"Got it," was all he managed to get out before he collapsed onto the ground. Dallas rushed over to the younger Russian in a panic, checking his pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt it. Then, carefully, he picked the unconscious Sokol up, while Hoxton grabbed the briefcase.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Dallas ground out, and the two quickly agreed.

"Comrades, get out over here, soldiers everywhere. Time to leave!" The pilot stated in a frantic tone. Dallas grunted in response: Sokol was deceptively heavy. The trio realized, however, that the only exit was through the turret-guarded room. Wolf, thinking fast, grabbed one of the test subjects and threw it into the room. The turret was momentarily distracted, at which the crew ran up the stairs and out of the hatch, back into the warehouse prior.

"Bulldozers!" Wolf exclaimed, pushing the others back into the hallway in surprise. Guarding the exit were two black Bulldozers, and they did not look happy. But, they couldn't just go back either, as the mercenaries from before were still down in the facility, clamoring for blood. Wolf felt overwhelmed, not sure of what to do for once. That was, until Hoxton stepped forward, pulling out a grenade he had stashed.

"Been saving this for a special occasion," Hoxton grunted, before lobbing it at the two Dozers, "Cheers!"

A few seconds later, the Dozers were no more. Hoxton took point, while Wolf took up behind, guarding Dallas and the unconscious Sokol. They fought their way out of the warehouse and back into the frigid Russian air. But, as they made their way to the plane, yet another obstacle made itself known.

"Snipers, over there!" Hoxton exclaimed, just before he was downed. Wolf threw the server behind a nearby rock, shoving Dallas behind it as he himself ran over and grabbed Hoxton. Once the other man was safe, Wolf grabbed the server again, peaking out of cover with his pistol and taking care of the two snipers.

"Come on, let's go!" Wolf shouted, at which Hoxton only grunted in reply, clutching his side as red stained his suit.

"Oh fuck! Snipers!" Wolf screamed, this time with realization: there were snipers everywhere now, doing anything to stop their escape. Too many to take out without dying.  


"Springa, springa!" Wolf exclaimed, and though the others didn't speak Swedish, they got the general idea, breaking into a dead sprint. Dallas ran surprisingly fast, pushing himself to get Sokol to safety. Hoxton followed close behind despite his wounds. That left only Wolf, slowed down by the weight of the server.

"Wolf, hurry up mate!" Hoxton shouted, as he neared the plane. Wolf nodded in reply, frantically strafing against the red dot sights that seemed to cover the area like a morbid came of laser tag. He took out a single sniper near the river, but not before getting shot in the shoulder. It was painful, incredibly so, and for a second all Wolf saw was red, but he had to keep going. After all, the plane in sight. It was only a few meters away. With a surge of strength, Wolf sprinted forward, grabbing Hoxton's extended hand and pulling himself into the aircraft. Then, Wolf simply collapsed onto the floor, looking like a defeated turtle with the server acting as a shell.

"Excellent, guys. It actually feels nice knowing we did something good. But don't get any ideas, we're robbing a bank or something next," Bain stated offhandedly. The rest of the crew were far too tired to even care. Dallas carefully set Sokol down to tend to his injuries, while Hoxton took one look at Wolf, before slumping down on the floor next to him. They didn't move for the rest of the plane ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm still missing vital information about the test subjects.  
> Did you know that I failed this heist two times while getting the dialogue for this story? I'll give you a hint: turrets.


End file.
